Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 126, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 25, 1997Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 11:10 AM CDT for Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 min. 6 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Oct 25, 1997, 11:10 AM CDT (16:10 UTC)
Expired: Oct 25, 1997, 11:55 AM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Winston County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Oct 25, 11:32 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Haleyville, AL
Oct 25, 11:32 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Haleyville, AL
Oct 25, 11:43 AM CDT	Hail 1	Ashridge, AL
Oct 25, 11:43 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Ashridge, AL
Oct 25, 11:58 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Double Spgs, AL
Oct 25, 12:05 PM CDT	Hail 1	Grayson, AL

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Oct 25, 8:30 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 121 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1546 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 507 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 191 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

755 
WFUS1 KBHM 251612 RRA
TORBHM
ALC133-251655-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1110 AM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1155 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...WINSTON COUNTY...

AT 1110 AM CDT... WEATHER RADAR CONTINUE TO SHOW A TORNADO LIKELY
ASSOCIATED WITH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER MARION COUNTY IN THE
PEARCES MILLS AREA.  THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH.  THE
STORM WILL AFFECT THE HALEYVILLE...DELMAR...NATURAL BRIDGE...AND
DOUBLE SPRINGS AREA THROUGH 1155 AM CDT.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT... SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT... DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 25, 8:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	DeKalb	52 min
Oct 25, 10:18 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	42 min
Oct 25, 10:18 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marion	47 min
Oct 25, 10:59 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	61 min
Oct 25, 11:00 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marion	45 min
Oct 25, 11:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	60 min
Oct 25, 11:48 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Winston	47 min
Oct 25, 12:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cullman	65 min
Oct 25, 12:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan	68 min
Oct 25, 1:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount	51 min
Oct 25, 1:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison, Marshall	67 min
Oct 25, 1:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Montgomery	48 min
Oct 25, 1:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pike	48 min
Oct 25, 2:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bullock, Macon	52 min
Oct 25, 2:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pike	48 min
Oct 25, 2:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Russell	46 min
Oct 25, 2:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Randolph	48 min
Oct 25, 2:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Barbour	50 min
Oct 25, 4:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Franklin	69 min
Oct 25, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.